Mission and Aims

The mission of the Wake Forest School of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology Residency is to train the next generation of ophthalmologists - not only to help them fully acquire the medical and surgical skills needed to diagnose and treat eye and vision disorders - but also to provide compassionate care in an ethical setting. While the primary efforts are to provide both structure and inspiration for residents, this crucible learning will also be a platform for faculty development and the education of other health learners including those in our community.

We are convinced that this mission can be successful while simultaneously providing exceptional care to each of our patients. While our greatest asset for training is a very busy, well-supervised outpatient clinical experience, we will also provide the academic opportunities that fully prepare our resident graduates for private practice, fellowship, or beginning academic career.

These department-specific goals echo the mission statement of Wake Forest Baptist Health: "Generating and translating knowledge to prevent, diagnose and treat disease. Training leaders in health care and biomedical science. Serving as the premier health system in our region..."

Ophthalmology Residency Program Aims

For our Residents 

Our goal is to graduate ophthalmologists who are ready on day one to provide excellent care in private practice or fellowship. Through our busy comprehensive eye service (continuity clinic), our graduates will also develop the professional skills, such as teamwork and time management, to enter the "real world" with confidence. We will provide three (soon to be four) years of structured didactic education and supervised patient care in each component of the core competencies. Through feedback from our learners, teachers, and expertise outside of our program, we will endeavor to make each year more effective than the one prior.

For our Faculty

Our faculty will provide formal education, and more importantly will lead by example. Therefore, we will recruit and develop diverse faculty teachers that teach and practice compassionate and ethical care as continuous examples of:

  • Positive and effective doctor-patient relationships
  • Teamwork
  • Excellence
  • Lifelong learning
  • Understand and practice methods to avoid burnout and promote a fulfilling career. 

For our Patients

We will provide state-of-the-art care with compassion and kindness, and keep our patients safe through continuous quality improvement and ongoing education of our providers: both teachers and learners. We will build and maintain the infrastructure, equipment, and technology to benefit the patients in our community, and the future patients of our residents.